Big

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Big
Promotional film poster for Big.
Directed by	Penny Marshall
Produced by	James L. Brooks Robert Greenhut
Written by	Gary Ross Anne Spielberg
Starring	Tom Hanks Elizabeth Perkins Robert Loggia John Heard
Music by	Howard Shore
Cinematography	Barry Sonnenfeld
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	June 3, 1988 (USA)
Running time	104 min.
Language	English
Budget	$18,000,000 (est.)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

For other uses, see Big (disambiguation).

Big is a 1988 comedy film about a teenage boy who is aged to adulthood by a magical fortune-telling machine. It stars Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard, Jared Rushton, David Moscow, Jon Lovitz and Mercedes Ruehl. The movie was written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg, and directed by Penny Marshall.

The movie takes place partially at Playland amusement park in Rye, New York, in the United States. In the movie, young Josh is supposed to live in Cliffside Park, New Jersey

Tom Hanks was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role.

The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

This film is number 23 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

Contents 1 Characters 2 Plot 3 Acclaim 4 Broadway musical 5 Trivia 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Characters

The main characters are:

• Josh Baskin - (Tom Hanks and David Moscow) a 13-year-old boy who magically became an adult overnight, although he retains his boyish charm and inexperience, and gains amazing physical abilities. As an adult, he gets a job at MacMillan's toy company.
• Susan Lawrence - (Elizabeth Perkins) Josh's beautiful and intelligent coworker at the toy company.
• Mac MacMillan - (Robert Loggia) Josh's boss at the toy company.
• Paul Davenport - (John Heard) Josh's bitter rival at the toy company who tries to win the respect of MacMillan and be better than Josh.
• Billy Kopecki - (Jared Rushton) Josh's 13-year-old best friend who keeps Josh company in New York City and ultimately finds the Zoltar Speaks machine for Josh.

[edit] Plot

After being humiliated while trying to impress an older girl at a carnival, Josh goes to a wish/fortune-telling machine, called Zoltar Speaks, in the shape of a gypsy and wishes that he were "big." The next morning, Josh wakes up to a reflection in the mirror he does not recognize: a full grown man's reflection.

When his mother sees him, she drives what appears to be a menacing intruder out of her house, then finding Josh gone, believes he has been kidnapped. In desperation, Josh corners his 13-year-old best friend Billy Kopecki, and convinces him of his true identity (by singing a secret song only they know). With his help, Josh rents a cheap room in Manhattan, and gets a lowly data-entry job at the MacMillan Toy Company.

In a memorable scene, he meets the company's owner, MacMillan, checking out the products at the FAO Schwartz toy store, and impresses him with his childlike enthusiasm. They end up playing a duet together on a giant foot-operated electronic keyboard, performing Chopsticks and Heart and Soul. This earns Josh a promotion to a dream job for a kid: testing toys all day long and getting paid for it. With his insight into what sells to children, he quickly rises up the corporate ranks.

He soon attracts the attention of ambitious fellow toy executive, Susan Lawrence, and a romance begins to develop, much to the annoyance of her current boyfriend, Paul. In time, Josh sees his friendship with Billy start to fade as his relationship with Susan begins to grow, and he is faced with a choice: return to his old life with his family and friends, or remain an adult with Susan. Ultimately, he decides to return to his normal life and seeks out the Zoltar machine, wishing himself back to childhood.

There were apparently two different endings filmed. In the much more common one, Susan catches up to Josh before he makes his wish. Josh tries to convince her to join him, but she isn't willing to relive her adolescence again. They part, with a hint that they may meet later, when he has grown up. In the other ending, after Josh has reverted to his right age, he and Billy are in class when the teacher introduces a new girl who looks exactly like Susan, only younger.

[edit] Acclaim

Big was received with almost unanimous critical acclaim.[1] It was (and still is) generally considered the gold standard when it comes to movies in which a child is trapped in an adult's body.[2] Many critics praised Tom Hanks for his "believable" and "adorable" performance.[3]

Big was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Tom Hanks) and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.

[edit] Broadway musical

In 1996, Big was musicalized for the Broadway stage. It featured music by David Shire, lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr., and a book by John Weidman. Directed by Mike Ockrent, and choreographed by Susan Stroman, it opened on April 28, 1996.

For more information, see Big, The Musical.

[edit] Trivia

• The keyboard scene was parodied on a Simpsons episode, where Homer plays an off-key rendition of "Rock Around The Clock" and a near-perfect rendition of the Simpsons main theme at the toy store.

• In an episode of the Family Guy entitled "The Story on Page One" Stewie is angry about being so small and stumbles upon a Zoltar Speaks machine from the movie. When Stewie says "I wish I was BIG" Zoltar responds with a card that reads "I wish I could weigh people."

• Debra Jo Rupp (who played Kitty Forman on That 70's Show) makes one of her first screen appearances as Josh Baskin's assistant "Ms. Patterson".

• In the episode of Newsradio entitled Arcade there is an homage to Big at the end of the episode. Video of scene on Putfile

• Despite having a PG rating, the movie contains the word "fuck". This is usually edited from television airings in America, Australia, and the U.K.

• In real life, Billy and Josh are the same age.

• Robert DeNiro was first considered for the role of adult Josh.

• The Zoltar machine was recently featured in a Microsoft Windows Live Messenger online ad campaign.

[edit] See also

• 13 Going on 30
• Freaky Friday
• Vice Versa
• Jack
• Like Father Like Son
• Da Grande
• Big, The Musical

[edit] External links

• Big at the Internet Movie Database
• Da grande at the Internet Movie Database
• Big on Rotten Tomatoes
• The New York Times on Big
• Original Mike Munves Grandma Fortune Teller as seen in Big